Chapter 5

Khyrhyelle, though she meditated with the cards often, tonight wished to garner some information about the situation she had found herself in. The High Witch laid down a cloth on the ground where she had cleared it and prayed to the Goddess to assist her with the Spell of Reading. From the deck, she pulled out the Queen of the Graal to represent herself. The card represented a fair lady who was honest, devoted and wise. She then posed her question mentally while shuffling the cards. Surprisingly, it was about her immediate future and not the wizard or the quest to secure him.

When she finished shuffling, the High Witch turned over the first card, placed it over the Queen of the Graal and said, "This covers me." She laid the next card over the first and said, "This crosses me." The third card was placed below the first two and Khyrhyelle said, "This is beneath me." The fourth card was located to the left of the first two. "This is behind me." Khyrhyelle drew back slightly as she viewed the fifth card. She placed the card above the first two. "This influences me," the High Witch whispered. The sixth card was placed to the right of the first two, completing a solar cross. "This awaits me." She positioned the next card by the third, but to the far right. "This is myself." The eighth card was located directly above the seventh. "This is my environment." The ninth card was laid above the previous one. "The hopes or fears." As she drew the last card, Khyrhyelle shuddered. She stared at it for a long time. Her eyes grew distant. A gale whipped around her disturbing her but not the cards. Finally, she placed it above the last card, creating a vertical line to the right of the cross. "The outcome." She paused and then began to interpret the counsel that the Goddess was imparting.